Recent Western Cape Business News

Four new international congresses have been won by Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) which will bring nearly 5 000 delegates and as much as R.6bn in spending power to benefit Cape Town’s coffers over the next few years.

The announcement that CTICC would host the 62nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in October 2011 was made in Glasgow, UK, this month during the 59th congress of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). It will see 2 000 delegates and scientists from space agencies and institutes across the world fly in to the city.

CTICC has also been selected for the December 2014 congress of the UNI-Global Union Congress drawing a further 2 000 international trade unionists to the Mother City. More than 900 unions representing 15 million members will attend - during the year in which South Africa will celebrate its 20th anniversary of democracy.

The 8th International Aquarium Congress to be hosted at CTICC in September 2012 will see some 500 delegates from overseas in Cape Town. 350 nuclear professionals arrive from 60 different countries for the Youth Nuclear Congress 2010 being held at CTICC in July 2010.

Dirk Elzinga, managing director of CTICC, said that international events like these were an accolade to the world-class facilities provided by the convention centre which were on par, or better, than many in other popular destinations around the globe.

“We are absolutely thrilled to receive the news of these four winning bids as it proves that, as a relatively young kid on the convention circuit, we are geared to the needs of today’s international conference planners both in our facilities and services.

“Word quickly gets around in this industry if a venue is not up to scratch in any way, and we have to diligently prove and improve our service constantly. It does not matter how beautiful Cape Town may be as a destination if the delegates have a bad experience when under our roof.”

“In the present financial climate and at a time of growing carbon footprint awareness, these four wins are a tremendous accolade to our staff and the practices we have put in place here.”

Elzinga welcomed the rise in the overall number of delegates – and their families - CTICC was attracting to Cape Town.

“We expect our figures to increase noticeably from 2009, given the rise in the number of large events we will be hosting.” He said that by 2013 the number of international tourists in South Africa, generated by delegates who have attended events at CTICC, was due to be more than one million.

CTICC’s contribution to South Africa’s GDP is expected to rise to R3.38bn in the next financial year. The next five years are expected to increase its cumulative total to more than R30bn since the CTICC’s inception in 2003.